MAP Romanesque Heritage

Church Penisula - Maria Wörth

Maria Wörth
became property of Freising between 875 and 883. Its first documentation was in
894 and it was made to the collegiate church by Bishop Otto of Freising in
1146.During this time the second church
of Maria Wörth, the so called winter or Rosary church, was sanctified. In 1279
a charnel house was built right next to the church. Even though some
architectural changes were made from time to time, the charnel house as well as
the two churches provide an excellent insight in the Romanesque architecture of
that time. The collegiate church has a crypt, while the winter church offers
beautiful cycles of frescoes from the 12th century. In the 20th
century the south bank of the Lake Wörther evolved into a popular international
tourism site.

History

Originally,
Maria Wörth hadn´t been a peninsula, but a small island in the Lake Wörther. It
was not until 1770, a connection to the main land existed, due to embankments
and the downwelling of the water level. Between 875 and 883 it became property
of Freising. The church, which is located on the highest point of the island,
was first mentioned in 894. Supposedly, the relics of the holy Primus and
Felician, who suffered from martyrdom in the 3rd century, were
brought to Maria Wörth unter the reign of Bishop Waldo von Freising (884-906).
For this reason Maria Wörth definitely became the center of the Freising
mission. It was upraised to the collegiate church by Bishop Otto von Freising
(1138-1158) and the first provost was mentioned in 1151. In 1155, presumably
under the presence of Bishop Roman the First, another church, the so called
winter or rosary church, was sanctified. In 1279 provost Heinrich founded a
charnel house in honour of the Holy Katharina, Elizabeth and Magdalena. In 1399
both churches were damaged by a severe fire, but they were reconstructed soon
after. Around 1500 the brightness of Freising seemed to fade away. The
Provost´s church descended to a benefice with no official functions. In 1529
Maria Wörth was incorporated by the St. George´s order of knights in Millstatt.
After the transfer of the commodities to the Jesuit order in 1598, the
existence of the second oldest Provost´s church in Austria came to an end.
After the Jesuit order was prohibited by Pope Clemens XIV in 1773, Maria Wörth
again became a simple parish.

Architecture and Furniture

The
Collegiate Church Maria Wörth is located on the highest point of the peninsula,
about 20 meters over the water level. Through a portal, which is built in the
late Gothic style, the visitors enter the cemetery. The partially conserved
curtain wall tells the story of the erstwhile fortification of this church. On
the right side of the Romanesque portal in the south there is a relief figure
located in a late Gothic niche, which most likely displays the Holy Primus. In
the center of this sacral building you´ll find the Romanesque crypt right under
the main chancel. The cross vault of the three-bay crypt with its square
outline is pillared by marble cribs. In the crypt reside the mortal remains of
the martyrs Primus and Felician. The winter or rosary church, which is located
in the west of the Collegiate Church, is typical of a square choir church from
Early Middle Ages. This building, which originally was flat-angled and
surrounded by a cemetery wall, received a burred cross vault in the 16th
century. Typically Gothic are the windows as well as the chapel and the vestry
in the south of this compound. The charnel house, which became the chapel in
1279, is a two-story rotunda with a cone-type roof and apsis in the upper
floor.

The cycle
of frescoes from the 12th century, which was rediscovered in the
chancel of the winter church in 1895, is one of the most exciting treasuries of
the Romanesque Art in the Alps region. The images show Christ as the judge of
the world on a throne as well as the twelve apostles, who are place in the
arcades.

After the
fire in 1399 the Romanesque windows were replaced by Gothic windows and the
frescoes were partly damaged. During the restoration in 1969 even more frescoes
from the 14th century appeared on the north side of the nave. A
glass painting in the chancel of the winter church from the year 1420 depicts
Maria with her child. An enthroned Mother of God is located at the center of
the Baroque altar of the collegiate church Maria Wörth. The statue of the
Virgin Mary is surrounded by statues of the Holy Primus and Felician from the
17th century. The rest of the interior of the church are in the
Baroque style, except two late Gothic panels on the western wall of the
baptistery. Only inside the Romanesque crypt one can find wall paintings from
the 15th century.